Cinderella: As It's Never Been Told Before
by truefairytales
Summary: You've heard the story of Cinderella before, but have you ever heard the true story? WARNING: In future chapters, this story will contain dark themes, not meant for the faint hearted.
1. Chapter 1

You've probably read or heard many fairy tales in your life, but none as true or real as this. For this is not a fairy tale, nor is it a story to be taken lightly. This is the story of a broken girl, who against all odds finds love. But do not expect for her happy ending to come so easily. This is a story of a girl you know as Cinderella, and so she was called, but before she lay in cinders, she lay in a warm bed, with a loving family, and her happy ending within arms' reach. Her name was Ella. And this is where her story begins.

Once upon a time there was a girl born of true love, raised in a world where nothing bad or evil happened. A perfect childhood till one day. The day seemed perfect, like all the rest, however, this day was about to change drastically.

"Miss Ella! Miss Ella! Come quick! It's your mother! The baby is coming!" Ella rose from the soft meadow ground to see the town baker, Ms. Tessa, running towards her.

Ella squealed ignoring the burning pain in her feet as she ran, bare feet scratching on the rough ground, as she ran down the worn path towards her house. She arrived at the house to see the midwife already there; she must have been farther away than she thought. Pounding up the stairs she saw her Papa pacing in front of the master suite, listening intently as whimpers resonated into the hallway.

"Ella." Her father, Warren, breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her running towards him. No matter how old she was he would always get nervous when she was out of his sight. He picked his twelve year-old up in his arms as he waited for news of how his wife was fairing. He had a feeling that his wife, Margaret was going to have a lengthy labor, mirroring her labor with Ella.

"Papa! Is the baby here yet? Am I a big sister?" Ella bounced in her father's arms, bursting with excitement.

The biggest grin appeared on her father's face as he said, "No sweetheart, not yet, just be patient." Inside the bedroom, it had gone quiet. Warren leaned his ear against the door, hearing the midwife telling Margaret to breathe, keep calm, and wait for the right moment. He could practically feel his wife rolling her eyes at the obvious statement; she had done this before.

"But why?" Ella whined.

"Err…well...you know how the baby is in mummy's tummy?" Ella nodded vigorously. "Well, it takes time, and is very painful to get the baby out."

Ella's eyes grew wide as she shot a worried glance at the bedroom door. "Is mummy going to be ok?" she whispered faintly.

"Mummy is going to be just fine," Papa promised. It was as much of a promise to him as it was to her; childbirth took a lot out of a person, but women were built for it. He sighed, and sat down, knowing it was going to be awhile until the baby arrived. Warren felt like he was going to explode from all the emotions coursing through his veins. They had lost many children through the years since the birth of Ella. This was the first one that had lasted all nine months, and he hoped the evening could pass without any complications.

20 drawn out hours later

"Come on Margaret just one more push, I can see his head!" Margaret screamed as she put all her effort into pushing the child out of her body. As the baby's cries echoed throughout the room, Margaret panted, "Warren...I need Warren." The child was being handed to Margaret as Warren strode in with Ella in his arms.

Ella leapt from her father's arms, eagerly climbing onto the bed and snuggling next to her mum as she stared at her new baby brother. "He's so tiny mummy!" Ella whispered, not wanting to disturb the now-quiet newborn in her mother's arms. Warren looked at his wife knowing what the size of his newborn son meant. He was too small to make it.

"Henry…Henry Peter." Margaret said as Warren pulled his family into a tender embrace, tears running down his cheeks as he watched his new son's breaths grow weaker and weaker.

Ella kissed Henry's forehead, even though she was twelve, she understood what was going on, "I love you Henry," Ella whispered. Tears streamed down Margaret's face as she watched the loving exchange between her beloved children, sobs starting to rack her body. Henry blinked open his stormy blue eyes and stared at his mother as his breathing became slower and shallower. Slowly his eyes drifted shut and one last tiny breath left his body, leaving the rest of his family circled around him with broken hearts.

However, the sorrow wasn't over for this particular family. "Margaret! You're bleeding!" While the family was absorbed in their sorrowful moment, Ms. Tessa had approached the foot of the bed with wide eyes, pointing to the blanket over Margaret's legs; it was soaked in blood. Warren looked down in horror at the shocking amount of blood on the sheets. He refused to believe he would lose another member of his family today.

"The doctor! Someone get the doctor! NOW!" Warren yelled frantically. No one moved. Everyone knew by the amount of blood on the sheets that it was too late for Margaret. "No…," Warren murmured, falling to his knees. As if that one word would stop the Fates from cutting another string from his life. First his son and now his wife, he knew if he did not have his precious daughter to take care of, he would not have lived for much longer after this day. He could feel his heart shattering into millions of pieces as he now watched his wife accept her fate.

"Ella darling, come here" Margaret whispered. Ella, having jumped away from her mother at the sight of the blood, crawled back up next to her, curling into her side as tormented sobs forced their way out of Ella's tiny body.

"D-don't leave me mummy. P-please d-don't leave me," Ella moaned into her mum's side, clinging to her with all her strength.

"Listen to me sweetheart. Be good and righteous, and God will always take care of you, and I will look down upon you from Heaven, and will always be with you. Remember this for mummy, ok?" Ella nodded, as her mother wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her forehead one last time. "Warren," Margaret said gravely as she turned to her true love. With a quiet sob, Warren scooped up his family in his arms. He planted a tear-stained kiss on his wife's lips.

"I will always love you," Warren whispered against his lover's lips.

"And I, you." Margaret placed a hand against the side her husband's face; he leaned into her hand, closing his eyes and placing his own hand over hers. "Do not dwell in mourning. Move on. Live. Laugh. Remember to love." She commanded this, for she did not want him to be unhappy. When he started to shake his head she continued, "Warren. You cannot fall apart. You have Ella. Do not forget to watch her grow. Do not forget to cherish her. Do this for me. Please." Her voice cracked with her last words, her voice becoming weaker as Death crept its was ever closer.

"I will," Warren promised, and with these words Margaret fell limp in his arms, her eyes closing as Death overtook her.


	2. Chapter 2

Ella and her dad stood, silently weeping at the loss of their family. Just yesterday she was supposed to become a big sister. But here she was, standing at the foot of the two new gravesites in the church cemetery. She felt like she would have crumpled into pieces if her father had not been there at her side, holding her hand.

Ella's feet had gone numb from standing long after the service ended when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see Will, her best friend in the whole world. "They're gone Will. Gone." Tears were silently flowing down her cheeks; under normal circumstances she would have been embarrassed for crying, but she felt numb, her heart incapable of feeling.

Will looked at her with his own glistening eyes, "C'mon El. Let's get you home." Ella nodded, barely registering that Ms. Tessa, Will's mom, was guiding her father home next to them.

Both her and her dad stayed in this state for days, until one day when Ella was wandering down to the foyer, stopping when she passed her dad's study. She peered in and saw something she hadn't seen since before her mother's death. Her dad sat at his desk, papers surrounding him, as he hummed his favorite tune-the one he and her mother danced to at their wedding.

"Papa?" Ella squeaked, not believing her eyes. _How could he be like this? How could he act so...normal?_ Warren looked up to see Ella standing, frozen in the doorway, with a look of confusion on her face.

"I-I promised her Ella. I told her I would look after you. I told her I would keep on living. A-And if I keep on living like this… I would break that promise. I could have easily given up on life. But I promised. And to keep that promise I have to learn to live again. Do you understand?" Her father seemed to be begging for her acceptance. He did not want her to think he still did not miss Margaret. He knew he always would. But he couldn't break his promise.

Ella looked deep into her dad's eyes, and understood. She ran to him and flung herself in his arms, "It's so hard Papa. How can anything be normal again?" Ella asked desperately.

Warren sighed, "It won't ever be normal again sweetheart, but we have to try. I promised your mum I would try."

Ella nodded, making a promise to herself as well. She would try too. For her mum. "I'm going to go exploring with Will today," she decided.

Her father chuckled, "I'm sure he'd like that. You and William are always getting in trouble."

Ella gave him a mischievous smile before changing her expression to one of innocence, raising her eyebrows. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ha. Yes, because you're an angel. Now, go! And have fun!" Ella kissed her dad on the cheek and ran out of the house toward Will's.

The bell tinkled as Ella pushed open the door, walking into the bakery where Will lived. She heard Ms. Tessa shout from the back, "Welcome to the bakery, I'll be right with you!"

"It's just me Ms. Tessa!" Ella smiled warmly, taking in the sweet smell of the fresh bread and delicate pastries surrounding her; it felt good to be back to normal.

"Ella! I've missed you! I haven't had a girl to help me with my baking! Will is always complaining!" Ms. Tessa said with a wink as she came out from the back room.

Ella sniggered at the thought of Will attempting to bake cookies with his mum. "Where is our dear William?" she asked, trying for an air of debonair, failing when she giggled from saying Will's real name. Ms. Tessa laughed along with her before telling her that Will was kneading bread in the back.

Ella weaved her way through the store toward the back until she came across Will pounding his fists on a ball of dough, looking upset. She paused; Will never looked upset, he was always happy. "Will?"

Will jerked his head up, "El," he whispered under his breath, running over and pulling her into a hug. "I was so worried about you. You wouldn't talk to me," he murmured into her hair. Ella was surprised; she hadn't even noticed Will's presence at her house over the past few days.

"Well, I'm talking now," Ella said awkwardly; she'd never been good at expressing her feelings, tending to just internalize everything she felt. Will, on the other hand, was an open book.

Will chuckled, "You _do_ have a way with words Ella."

Ella rolled her eyes, face lighting up with an impish grin. "Want to go on an adventure?"

Will paused, as if thinking about it, "I don't know if you can keep up with me," he said, taking off out the door.

"Oh, so not fair!" Ella screamed, sprinting after him.


	3. Chapter 3

**6 Months Later**

Ella and Will walked through the forest toward the edge of town, deep in argument.

"We are officially the same age!" Ella declared, "Don't try to deny it."

Will, walking along next to her, rolled his eyes."I'm still two and a half months older, and you've only been thirteen for a week."

"But we're both thirteen! Therefore the _SAME_ AGE!"

Will chuckled as he watched his partner in crime grow ever more frustrated as he reined seniority over her. "Still older... anyway, don't we have a job to do?"

Ella huffed, feeling a little lightheaded, probably from the yelling and eye rolling. She crept with Will towards the edge of the woods, whining."Why do I always have to be the distraction?"

"Because you're younger."

"Am not!"

"Are too. Now shush, someone might hear us." Ella rolled her eyes once more but reluctantly complied. They were right behind one of the summer mansions on the outskirts of town, this particular one belonging to the Abbots. Will and Ella were pranking Julie Abbot because she was a prissy brat, and they felt she needed a nice companion, so they were going to put a pig in her room. Now, they hadn't quite figured out _how_ to do this, but that didn't matter as long as they achieved their goal.

Ella started to creep forward, with Will following, when suddenly she sucked in a sharp breath and hunched over, with one hand over her stomach. "Ella, you ok?" Will rushed forward and grabbed her, searching for a visible wound.

Ella took a deep breath and nodded, straightening up. "Yeah...I don't know what that was, but I've-Ahh." She bent over again, wincing; it felt like her groin was being stabbed.

"Yep, that's it; I'm taking you to my mum. We're not pranking today." Will scooped her up and started the way toward his house. Ella had never been like this before, and it worried him. He could tell she was still in pain, but as they neared his house she relaxed as it ebbed away.

"Ok Will. Put me down; I'm fine now. We don't need to bother your mum." Ella squirmed in Will's arms, and when he finally let her down she immediately turned back the way they came. Will reached out and grabbed Ella's arm. "Will. Stop. I'm fine." Ella didn't want to be a burden by wasting Ms. Tessa's time.

"Ella," Will sighed, "I promise she won't mind. You were doubled over not two minutes ago! We need to see what's wrong." Will gave her a pointed look then continued, "If you don't, I'll just carry you in." Ella made an exasperated noise before stomping past him into the bakery.

* * *

Ella left Will's house red-faced, and now fully aware about the changes both a woman and a man undergo to reach maturity. Nice to know she was now a woman.

She was walking towards the kitchen when she heard voices floating down the hallway from her father's office. She paid them no heed until she heard her name.

"What am I going to do about Ella?" Ella recognized her father's muffled voice as she tiptoed closer to the office, and pressed an ear lightly against the door.

"She needs a new mother, someone to take care of her." Ella couldn't quite recognize the second voice; she thought it was one of her Papa's business advisors, but she couldn't be sure.

"A new mother?! You can't be serious! No one will ever, _ever_, replace Margaret. For me or Ella." Warren fell into a fit of coughing; that they seized him often these days.

There was a shuffle of clothing and Ella could hear her father's friend patting his back, followed by a hushed murmur, "I understand that Warren, and I know the wound is still fresh. But you need to find someone to take care of Ella when you're gone. We don't know how much time you have...you don't want to leave her alone, do you?" This last part was so quiet that Ella strained to hear.

_Leave me alone? Why would he leave? _

"I-I can't do this. How can I pick someone to finish r-raising my daughter?" Warren was barely whispering now. Ella brow furrowed in confusion, but sadly in the next few moments her confusion was replaced by devastation.

"Warren, you don't have a choice. You're dying."


	4. Chapter 4

Ella's heart caught in her chest. She threw open the door, not caring that she wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping. Warren's head jerked up when he heard his daughter barge in.

"Y-you're dying," Ella's voice cracked as she confirmed the fact she just heard.

"Ella I-" Her father started, but Ella cut him off.

"No!" She started to scream at him, anguish seeping from her voice. "You're dying, and you didn't tell me!" Ella used the words she knew were going to hurt him the most; she wanted him to feel the pain burning throughout her. "You're leaving me here alone! First mother, and now…you?" Her voiced cracked as the words tumbled out.

Tears streamed down Warren's face as he reached out to his daughter. "Ella," he said, but she shook her head and stepped back, her own tears cascading down her cheeks. She turned and ran out of the house, away from the pain, the loneliness, the heart break. She stumbled blindly towards the forest, uncertain of her destination.

"_You're dying._"

Ella didn't pay any attention to where she put her feet; she just ran. Bushes and branches impeded her path, ripping at her clothing, while rocks threatened to twist her ankles as she sprinted through the forest. After what seemed like hours, Ella slowed to a stop and took in her surroundings.

"_…leave her._"

She was on the edge of the forest next to a river. Standing in the middle of the little clearing, she recalled coming here for picnics with her mom.

"_Needs a new mother_."

Ella collapsed to the ground; sobs exploding out of her body, making it impossible to breathe or hear anything except the torturous thoughts coursing through her head.

"_You're dying_."

Ella watched as the physical changes of father in the last month unfolded before her eyes. He'd become a thin, pale, sickly version of his old self. She mourned for him; for the life he had lost, for their relationship being cut short, and for his last few months being drawn out in sickness.

Ella had no idea how long she laid there, tears running down her cheeks and sobs racking her body, but she slowly became aware of her aching joints and protesting muscles. Forcing herself to breathe evenly, she sat up and crawled towards the river bank. Ella knelt in the freezing winter water, her knees digging into the rocks beneath the surface as she tucked her feet underneath her. Staring at her reflection in the water, she realized that soon she would be the last member of her family.

All alone.

Shoulders sagging, Ella let all the hurt and pain flow out of her body that had been building since her mother's death. She imagined the river was cleansing her, making her as smooth as the riverbed below.

While Ella was being swallowed by her depression, a boy was lost, wandering in the woods with his horse trying to find a recognizable landmark. He crashed through the bushes into the clearing where a girl was sitting waist deep in a river. He immediately looked away, "Oh! God, I'm sor-" he said, but cut off as he glanced back at the girl and realized that she was not bathing as he had originally thought. She was crying, her shoulders shaking as the occasional sob escaped her.

The girl jumped when she heard someone behind her, quickly rubbing the tears away from her face and stammering out, "I-I'm sorry." When she started to struggle to her feet, the boy dropped his reins and ran forward to help her out of the water.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Now let's get you out of here," He gripped her elbow as she waded in her soaked dress to the river bank. "Are you ok?" He asked.

Ella collapsed on a log at the river bank, exhausted. "No…but you don't know me, so it's not like you care," she mumbled.

The boy sat beside her. "Well my name is Charles, so now we know each other...and I may not know you very well...but I do care."

Ella responded with a watery laugh. "Thank you. I'm Ella by the way, and you seem nice but I still don't know you, and I can't just dump all of my problems on some random person!" Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued, "I-I just have no one else to go to...normally I'd talk to my dad but-" her voice choked as a new wave of tears ran down her cheeks and she started to shiver from the slight breeze that drifted through the clearing.

Charles draped his coat around her shoulders, "What about your dad?"

Her voice rose to an anguished cry, "He's leaving me!" A sob wracked her body as she brought the dreaded topic back up, "He's leaving me and I'll be all alone."

"Why is he leaving?"

"H-He's dying," she stated, shutting out the feelings that she felt were best left untouched.

Charles face became drawn as his own encounters with Death surfaced in his mind. When he spoke his voice was barely above a whisper, "What about your mum?"

"She died six months ago," Ella hunched over and wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to fight against the onslaught of depression that came with thoughts of her mum.

Charles grew haggard as he realized that had Ella been touched by Death the same way he had. "I'm sorry...my mum died too. My dad's the only family I have left...I don't have many close friends either." Charles's words grew softer as he continued, almost as if he were talking to himself. "Nobody wants to know me for me."

Ella sniffled, "I'd like to get to know you." She didn't know where that came from, but once it left her mouth she realized it to be true.

Charles let out a dry chuckle. "Thanks, but we never seen each other, well...I mean I've never seen you around town."

"We can figure something out...we could meet here. It'll be our thing. We'll get to know each other, but there's one rule..." Ella trailed off with a slight smirk.

Charles turned at looked at her. "Yes?"

"In our grove, the outside world doesn't exist."

Charles had but one thing to say to this. "_Our_ grove?"

Ella cheeks looked slightly flushed as words tumbled out of her mouth in explanation. "Well, nobody else knows about it. Except for my friend Will, but he doesn't like being deep woods...so it's just us."

Charlie smiled at her. "Ok so…no outside world."

Ella beamed back at him, and the depressed thoughts vanishing from her mind. "No outside world," she confirmed. She had a feeling that this was going to be a good friendship.

* * *

**AN: Hello fellow fanfictioners...ive never done this before, but im giving it a go...please review! and go check out my beta's stories: ethomas737 :) i welcome all commentary! There's always room for improvement...also if you have any ideas im always open to suggestions, though i dont promise anything because i already have most of it planned out :) Thanks for all the love and support! **

**-tft**


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